Johnsons's Garden Centers Text File document - copyright 2005
PDF file available at http://www.johnsonsgarden.com/newsletter/birdsquirrels.html

Rest Stop For Weary Travelers
September/October 2005
Mike Hargrove, Johnson's West 13th Store Manager

    Fall migration is getting underway and the birds in our backyards
are getting ready for the change of seasons. Most insect and fruit
eating birds are heading south for warmer climates where their food
sources are available. Many of these travelers will make rest stops in
your yard on their long trip if you have the right habitat. Water is the
key ingredient for attracting migrating songbirds like warblers and
vireos and if that water is moving it is all the more irresistible.
    Birdbaths are an attraction for the birds needing to take a short
break but a waterfall is like an oasis for migrating birds. Plants that
provide fruit in the fall are another great attraction for those birds
on their way south. The hawthorns, crabapples and junipers in my yard
are a magnet for cedar waxwings, warblers and robins.
    Several seed eating birds that raise their young in higher
elevations or in the far north, spend their winters with us here in the
plains. Many of the native sparrows make their winter home in Kansas. A
sure sign that colder temperatures are on the way is the arrival of the
first juncos (snowbirds) in the fall. A favorite winter sparrow in our
area is the Harris sparrow that summers near the arctic circle but
winters in the central plains of Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. You can
provide a ground-feeding tray and fill it with our "Pretty Boy Mix" to
cater to these and other native sparrows that winter with us.
    Most of our native birds do not migrate at all and stay with us year
round. Some of them change their diet from insects to seeds or suet in
the winter. Suet replaces insects in the winter for chickadees, titmice,
woodpeckers and wrens. A wire suet feeder is a great attraction for
these birds when the temperature is falling. If starlings become a
problem when offering suet at your feeding station, there are starling
resistant suet feeders available.
    Fall is the traditional time people start filling their birdfeeders
and adding new feeding stations. It can be frustrating when the birds do
not immediately flock to your new feeder or just-filled birdbath. Keep
in mind that in the fall there is an abundance of natural food available
for wildlife and those food sources will be utilized until they are
depleted or covered by snow or ice. People who feed the birds year round
tend to have more birds in the fall than people who feed only in the
winter. Remember that birds find food by sight and if they are not
familiar with a new feeder it will take them time to accept it and start
using it. Be patient and they will come.
    As the leaves start to turn and the temperatures start to drop, keep
an eye and ear out in your yard and enjoy those birds that are just
passing through on their way south and say hello to those birds that
will be spending the winter in your garden.